Michael Mathias - The Wizard and the Warlord

Bzorch was going to climb the fang. Its curved shape made the western face look easy to ascend. He ordered his ropeman to stay back. He wanted to take this risk alone.

“If I do not return, tell my cousin Gzorith that he is to take over command and work with the captain,” Bzorch told his ropeman and the barge master. He then ordered the two humans in the safety boat to begin rowing him toward the fang. “Watch the wormhole, get under it, and wait for my signal.”

The barge master nodded, as did the other breed. As soon as Bzorch was off, they went about putting the willow branches and swamp grass back over the place where the safety boat had been lashed.

Bzorch suddenly realized that it was far too quiet around the fang. This kind of silence was unnatural. Even the insects seemed to have fled. He began to wonder if Captain Hodge and his group hadn’t drawn the whole encampment to them. A glance westward told him that the Choska was still preoccupied.

“As soon as I’m out of the boat, start rowing back,” he said.

“We’re coming up on the face now,” one of the rowers said.

Bzorch turned and looked up at the western face of the fang. The sun was on it now; midday had come and gone. He realized that his shadow would be a long, drooping line on the rock. He would have to hurry. If the Choska came around and caught him halfway up, clinging like a lizard, he would surely be killed.

“Get me directly under that hole up there,” Bzorch commanded again. When the oarsmen had him in position, he checked to see where the Choska was. It was well to the west, circling slowly over the captain’s group. He didn’t hesitate. Like some big, lumbering gorilla, he began moving upward. Three hundred feet was a long way to climb, but Bzorch went about it with a purpose.

About a third of the way up, a shadow sped across him and made his heart blast through his chest. Looking up and craning his neck, he saw that it was only the shadow of a big dactyl, not the Choska. Still, the creature showed him its bright pink maw and hissed at his trespass. After checking to see where the Choska was once more, he resumed his climb. Luckily, the demon was still focused on what was going on with Captain Hodge’s group.

Bzorch couldn’t believe it when he finally pulled himself into the wormhole of the old red dragon’s layer. After he caught his breath, he pulled the looking glass from his belt and looked out westwardly to see what the Choska was so intently circling. The sun reflected back up at him in a bright coppery ray, making it hard to pick out details, but what had happened was clear. From his vantage point he could see a swath of marsh water littered with debris and stained red with blood. One of the three barges was half submerged, the others completely under water. The long, loggish shapes of several snappers eased about the pools searching for more men to eat. Bzorch swore under his breath. He saw that the Choska was now moving toward the camouflaged barges where his men were hiding. He had to move across to the eastern opening to see where they were hidden. As he went, he noticed that there was no sign of anything living in the cavernous hollow that opened up off of the wormhole. All he saw were bones from ancient meals and some hardened chunks of grizzly pelt piled in the spaces between. He wasn’t sure now if the Choska was roosting here.

To his horror, and anger, a monstrous swarm of dactyls was clouding around the concealed boats. The men weren’t able to stay hidden. The big, sharp-beaked birds were diving and slashing at them. The shadow of the Choska swept across the dark green collage of marsh below. Bzorch’s head shot up and located it in the sky. He nearly tumbled out of the wormhole when he saw her on its back.

Was it her?

Holding his breath and willing his heart to keep beating, Bzorch put his looking glass to his eye and found her in it. He wasn’t sure if he should feel relief or not when he saw the face. There was no patch of scorched flesh over her ear, no pink teardrop scar on her cheek, but he knew in his primitive heart that it was somehow Shaella.

He decided then that killing the Choska might not be as important as warning the High King of this discovery. A glance down at his men put a knot in his stomach. A plethora of life was swarming over the boats. Snakes, dactyls, and some huge, tentacled thing that was only half in the water, were all attacking. The dark channel took on a crimson sheen and, after only a few heartbeats, was only a churning mass of death.

He was alone now.

Bzorch found the Choska again and growled. He would survive, he told himself. He would wade back to Westland and tell King Mikahl of this bloody attack if he had to. The High King had to know that Shaella, or something very much like her, was alive.

He decided to use the time he had before darkness to make a plan. Alone, with no boat, it was all he could think to do.

Once inside the huge island castle of Afdeon it was hard to judge how massive it really was. The sections of the lower floors the party was able to see were plain in appearance, other than the overproportionate size of everything. The lower floors were crude and square, and looked to be carved into the natural rock. The walls were thick and the hallways narrow. Hyden figured that this was the foundation for the towering construction above, its function obviously more important than form.

They rode up on a disk-shaped lift. The large platform had several divans and benches. One was even built for human-sized folk.

“Look, Hyden,” Phen whispered as they marveled at it all. “Next to the giants and their furniture, Oarly looks like a bearded toddler.”

Both Phen and Hyden were disappointed when they learned that the elevating disk was a mechanical device and not magical. Cade explained that it worked by way of a system of counter weights and pulleys powered by shafts and chambers that vented natural steam from the Cauldron.

They passed hundreds of floors on the half-day ride, but they were only given glimpses of the vast variety of things that were on them. Some lower floors held cavernous pillared rooms full of livestock, bundled bales of grain, crated vegetables, and all sorts of goods and stores. Most of the floors opened up on long hallways with doors on either side. A few held similar corridors with merchant shops. On one of these floors, about an hour into the ride, a young hawker presented them with meals of devil goat meat wrapped in flat bread. The offerings were so large that no one could manage more than half of the meal, save for Jicks, who stuffed himself full.

“How far up are we going?” Princess Telgra finally asked after they had eaten.

“The royal apartments and the quarters for distinguished guests are above the steam cloud, Your Highness,” Cade answered her formally. “That is where we will exit the lift.”

“You said that King Aldar is expecting us this evening?” Hyden asked, fishing for information.

“He is,” Cade said.

“Will we be given time to wash the road off of us?” Hyden asked, thinking as much about Telgra as he was anyone. “And our cleanest clothes are down with our things.”

“Actually, your things are already being delivered to your rooms,” Cade informed them. “This isn’t the only way up to the royal chambers. And yes, Sir Hyden Hawk, I believe that you will have at least a few hours to wash and recover before King Aldar summons you.”

It was like sitting in a room where the open entryways changed every few moments. For a time, worked stone was all that was visible, and then an opening would seemingly slide down the wall, revealing a corridor full of closed doors, or a floor full of giants working leather, or another vast expanse of stored goods. Even though they had seen as much space as any human city offers, it was apparent that they were seeing very little of Afdeon.